On June 28, 2023, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg joined Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn and others in Orangeburg, South Carolina to announce that the Biden-Harris Administration has awarded more than $2.2 billion from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program to 162 different infrastructure projects across the country.
This funding includes a nearly $23 million grant to build a pedestrian bridge and a multi-modal transit hub to better connect neighborhoods and college campuses to downtown Orangeburg.
The RAISE grant program, expanded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, supports communities of all sizes, with half of the FY2023 funding going to rural areas and the other half to urban areas.
The grants are part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda that is growing the American economy from the bottom up and middle-out—from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to driving nearly $500 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, to creating good-paying jobs and building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.
“Using the funds in President Biden’s infrastructure law, we are helping communities in every state across the country realize their visions for new infrastructure projects,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
“This round of RAISE grants is helping create a new generation of good-paying jobs in rural and urban communities alike, with projects whose benefits will include improving safety, fighting climate change, advancing equity, strengthening our supply chain, and more,” he added.
This year’s awarded projects will help more people get where they need to be quickly, affordably, and safely.
From projects that will strengthen supply chains and reduce bottlenecks, to bridge replacements and road projects to make them safer and more efficient for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians, this year’s awards will build, renovate, and repair infrastructure that benefits Americans for future generations to come, while taking steps to reduce emissions from the transportation sector and support wealth creation and good-paying union jobs.
Seventy percent of the grants are going to projects in regions defined as an Area of Persistent Poverty or a Historically Disadvantaged Community.
Like last year, demand for RAISE funding was higher than available funds. This year, DOT received $15 billion in requests for the $2.26 billion available.
The awardees include:
- Chula Vista, California: Palomar Street Grade Separation Project: $21.5 million to eliminate a rail crossing that causes frequent delays for drivers and been the site of 85 crashes over a 10-year period. Project also separates Palomar Street from the rail corridor, making it safer for people who walk, bike, and roll;
- Iowa: Rebuilding Bridges: $24.7 million grant to replace up to 9 bridges in poor condition in rural counties. Some bridges are weight-restricted and currently force detours for both residents and commercial truck drivers;
- Eudora, Kansas: Church Street Community Connectivity and Multimodal Enhancements Project. $21 million grant to fix Church Street between 20th and 28th Street near schools, converting a two-lane road into three lanes with a center turn lane and new shared-use paths. Also realigns an intersection, installs a roundabout and adds new stormwater infrastructure;
- Jackson, Kentucky: Panbowl Lake Corridor Project: $21 million grant to make improvements to KY 15, the main artery through town, and strengthen an earthen dam that helps protect community from catastrophic flooding. Jackson was the site of historic, deadly flooding in recent years;
- New Orleans, Louisiana: New Orleans Downtown Transit Center and Connecting Corridors: $24.8 million grant to construct a Downtown Transit Center for the city’s bus and streetcar network and make safety improvements at intersections with a history of pedestrian-involved crashes;
- North Bergen, New Jersey: Tonnelle Avenue Bridge and Utility Relocation Project: $25 million grant to relocate and construct a new, approximately 100-foot road bridge to carry Tonnelle Avenue over a new railroad right-of-way for the new Hudson River Trunnel in North Bergen;
- Standing Rock, South Dakota: Route 6 Reconstruction and Preservation: $18.5 million grant to resurface BIA 6 on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, addressing a road with higher than average roadway injuries and deaths; and
- Caldwell County, Texas: SH 130 Advanced Commercial Truck Travel Plaza: $22.9 million grant to design and construct a truck parking plaza that improves safety and convenience for truck drivers. Plaza will include short- and long-term spaces with lighting, fencing, restroom and shower facilities, with 24-hour monitored security.
RAISE discretionary grants help project sponsors at the State and local levels, including municipalities, Tribal governments, counties, and others complete critical freight and passenger transportation infrastructure projects that they may not have had the funding to carry out prior to passage of President Biden’s infrastructure law. The eligibility requirements of RAISE allow project sponsors to obtain funding for projects that are harder to support through other U.S. DOT grant programs.
The RAISE program is one of several ways communities can secure funding for projects under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s competitive grant programs. This week, the Federal Transit Administration announced early $1.7 billion in funding through the agency’s Low or No Emission Vehicle Program, which puts more zero-emission and low-emission buses on the road while supporting workforce training on new vehicle technologies.
A few days earlier, the Department also published the 2023 Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant (MPDG) Program: a three-in-one grant opportunity for communities interested in funding made available through the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) discretionary grant program, the Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program (Rural), and the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) program.
Image courtesy of the City of Orangeburg, South Carolina.
Learn more about Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE).